pennyspoetryfandomcom-20200214-history
A.A. Milne
| birth_place = Kilburn, London, England | death_date = January | death_place = Hartfield, East Sussex, England | occupation = Novelist, playwright, poet | nationality = British | period = Edwardian | alma_mater = University of Cambridge | spouse = Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt (1913–1956; his death) | children = Christopher Robin Milne | genre = Children's literature | notableworks = Winnie the Pooh }} Alan Alexander Milne (18 January 1882 - 31 January 1956) was an English poet, playwright, and prose writer, best known for his children's books about the teddy bear Winnie-the-Pooh. Milne was a noted writer, primarily as a playwright, before the huge success of Pooh overshadowed all his previous work. Life Milne was born in Kilburn, London, to parents Vince Milne, who was Scottish, and Sarah Marie Milne (née Heginbotham) and grew up at Henley House School, 6/7 Mortimer Road (now Crescent), Kilburn, a small public school run by his father. One of his teachers was H.G. Wells who taught there in 1889–90. Milne attended Westminster School and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he studied on a mathematics scholarship. While there, he edited and wrote for Granta, a student magazine. He collaborated with his brother Kenneth and their articles appeared over the initials AKM. Milne's work came to the attention of the leading British humour magazine Punch, where Milne was to become a contributor and later an assistant editor. Milne joined the British Army in World War I and served as an officer in the Royal Warwickshire Regiment and later, after a debilitating illness, in the Royal Corps of Signals. He was discharged on 14 February 1919.Christopher Finch (2000) Disney's Winnie the Pooh: A Celebration of the Silly Old Bear p.18. Disney Editions, 2000 with bear.]] After the war, he wrote a denunciation of war titled Peace with Honour (1934), which he retracted somewhat with 1940's War with Honour.Capitalization as in the British Library Catalogue During World War II, Milne was one of the most prominent critics of English writer P. G. Wodehouse, who was captured at his country home in France by the Nazis and imprisoned for a year. Wodehouse made radio broadcasts about his internment, which were broadcast from Berlin. Although the light-hearted broadcasts made fun of the Germans, Milne accused Wodehouse of committing an act of near treason by cooperating with his country's enemy. Wodehouse got some revenge on his former friend (eg in The Mating Season) by creating fatuous parodies of the Christopher Robin poems in some of his later stories, and claiming that Milne "was probably jealous of all other writers.... But I loved his stuff." He married Dorothy "Daphne" de Sélincourt in 1913, and their only son, Christopher Robin Milne, was born in 1920. In 1925, A. A. Milne bought a country home, Cotchford Farm, in Hartfield, East Sussex. During World War II, A. A. Milne was Captain of the Home Guard in Hartfield & Forest Row, insisting on being plain 'Mr. Milne' to the members of his platoon. He retired to the farm after a stroke and brain surgery in 1952 left him an invalid, and by August 1953 "he seemed very old and disenchanted". Milne died in January 1956, aged 74. Career 1903 to 1925 After graduating from Cambridge in 1903, Milne contributed humorous verse and whimsical essays to Punch, joining the staff in 1906 and becoming an assistant editor. During this period he published 18 plays and 3 novels, including the murder mystery The Red House Mystery (1922). His son was born in August 1920 and in 1924 Milne produced a collection of children's poems When We Were Very Young, which were illustrated by Punch staff cartoonist E.H. Shepard. A collection of short stories for children Gallery of Children, and other stories that became part of the Winnie-the-Pooh books, were first published in 1925. Milne was an early screenwriter for the nascent British film industry, writing four stories filmed in 1920 for the company Minerva Films (founded in 1920 by the actor Leslie Howard and his friend and story editor Adrian Brunel). These were The Bump, starring Aubrey Smith; Twice Two; Five Pound Reward; and Bookworms''Eforgan, E. (2010) ''Leslie Howard: The Lost Actor. London: Vallentine Mitchell; chapter 3. ISBN 978-0-85303-971-6 Some of these films survive in the archives of the British Film Institute. Milne had met Howard when the actor starred in Milne’s play Mr Pim Passes By in London.Thomas Burnett Swann (1971). A. A. Milne. p.41. Twayne Publishers, 1971 Looking back on this period (in 1926) Milne observed that when he told his agent that he was going to write a detective story, he was told that what the country wanted from a "Punch humorist" was a humorous story; when two years later he said he was writing nursery rhymes, his agent and publisher were convinced he should write another detective story; and after another two years he was being told that writing a detective story would be in the worst of taste given the demand for children's books. He concluded that "the only excuse which I have yet discovered for writing anything is that I want to write it; and I should be as proud to be delivered of a Telephone Directory con amore as I should be ashamed to create a Blank Verse Tragedy at the bidding of others." 1926 to 1928 (formerly the New York Public Library Main Branch) in New York.]] Milne is most famous for his two Pooh books about a boy named Christopher Robin after his son, Christopher Robin Milne, and various characters inspired by his son's stuffed animals, most notably the bear named Winnie-the-Pooh. Christopher Robin Milne's stuffed bear, originally named "Edward",Winnie-the-Pooh at the New York Public Library was renamed "Winnie-the-Pooh" after a Canadian black bear named Winnie (after Winnipeg), which was used as a military mascot in World War I, and left to London Zoo during the war. "The pooh" comes from a swan called "Pooh". E. H. Shepard illustrated the original Pooh books, using his own son's teddy, Growler ("a magnificent bear"), as the model. The rest of Christopher Robin Milne's toys, Piglet, Eeyore, Kanga, Roo, Owl, Rabbit and Tigger, were incorporated into A. A. Milne's stories. Christopher Robin Milne's own toys are now under glass in New York. The fictional Hundred Acre Wood, , where the Pooh stories were set, derives from Five Hundred Acre Wood in Ashdown Forest in East Sussex, South East England. Milne lived on the northern edge of the Forest and took his son walking there. E.H. Shepard drew on the landscapes of Ashdown Forest as inspiration for many of the illustrations he provided for the Pooh books. The adult Christopher Robin commented: "Pooh's Forest and Ashdown Forest are identical". The wooden Pooh Bridge in Ashdown Forest, where Pooh and Piglet invented Poohsticks, is a tourist attraction.Plans to improve access to Pooh Bridge unveiled BBC. Retrieved 15 October 2011 Not yet known as Pooh, he made his first appearance in a poem, "Teddy Bear", published in the British magazine Punch in February, 1924. Pooh first appeared in the London Evening News on Christmas Eve, 1925, in a story called "The Wrong Sort Of Bees"."Pooh celebrates his 80th birthday". BBC. Retrieved 11 November 2012 Winnie-the-Pooh was published in 1926, followed by The House at Pooh Corner in 1928. A second collection of nursery rhymes, Now We Are Six, was published in 1927. All three books were illustrated by E.H. Shepard. Milne also published four plays in this period. He also "gallantly stepped forward" to contribute a quarter of the costs of dramatising P.G. Wodehouse's A Damsel in Distress.Letter from P.G. Wodehouse dated 26 July 1928 at page 114 in P.G. Wodehouse: A Portrait of a Master by David A. Jasen (2002). ISBN 0-8256-7275-9. 1929 onwards The success of his children's books was to become a source of considerable annoyance to Milne, whose self-avowed aim was to write whatever he pleased and who had, until then, found a ready audience for each change of direction: he had freed pre-war Punch from its ponderous facetiousness; he had made a considerable reputation as a playwright (like his idol J.M. Barrie) on both sides of the Atlantic; he had produced a witty piece of detective writing in The Red House Mystery (although this was severely criticised by Raymond Chandler for the implausibility of its plot). But once Milne had, in his own words, "said goodbye to all that in 70,000 words" (the approximate length of his four principal children's books), he had no intention of producing any reworkings lacking in originality, given that one of the sources of inspiration, his son, was growing older. His reception remained warmer in America than Britain, and he continued to publish novels and short stories, but by the late 1930s the audience for Milne's grown-up writing had largely vanished: he observed bitterly in his autobiography that a critic had said that the hero of his latest play ("God help it") was simply "Christopher Robin grown up...what an obsession with me children are become!". Even his old literary home, Punch, where the When We Were Very Young verses had first appeared, was ultimately to reject him, as Christopher Milne details in his autobiography The Enchanted Places, although Methuen continued to publish whatever Milne wrote, including the long poem 'The Norman Church' and an assembly of articles entitled Year In, Year Out (which Milne likened to a benefit night for the author). He also adapted Kenneth Grahame's novel The Wind in the Willows for the stage as Toad of Toad Hall. The title was an implicit admission that such chapters as Chapter 7, "The Piper at the Gates of Dawn", could not survive translation to the theatre. A special introduction written by Milne is included in some editions of Grahame's novel. Religious views Milne did not speak out much on the subject of religion, although he used religious terms to explain his decision, while remaining a pacifist, to join the army: "In fighting Hitler", he wrote, "we are truly fighting the Devil, the Anti-Christ ... Hitler was a crusader against God." His best known comment on the subject was recalled on his death: ::The Old Testament is responsible for more atheism, agnosticism, disbelief—call it what you will—than any book ever written; it has emptied more churches than all the counter-attractions of cinema, motor bicycle and golf course. He also wrote: ::Elizabeth Ann ::Said to her Nan: ::"Please will you tell me how God began? ::Somebody must have made Him. So ::Who could it be, 'cos I want to know?" :::—A.A. Milne's poem "Explained" Recognition Milne's book The World of Pooh won the Lewis Carroll Shelf Award in 1958. A memorial plaque in Ashdown Forest, unveiled by Christopher Robin in 1979, commemorates the work of A A. Milne and E.H. Shepard in creating the world of Pooh. Milne once wrote of Ashdown Forest: "In that enchanted place on the top of the forest a little boy and his bear will always be playing".Rebecca Ford (28 February 2007) Happy Birthday Pooh Daily Express. Retrieved 15 October 2011 In 2008, a collection of original illustrations featuring Winnie-the-Pooh and his animal friends sold for more than £1.2m at auction in Sotheby's, London."Pooh pictures sell for £1.2m at auction". Metro. Retrieved 11 November 2012 Forbes magazine ranks Winnie the Pooh the most valuable fictional character – in 2002 Winnie the Pooh merchandising products alone had annual sales of more than $5.9 billion."Top-Earning Fictional Characters". Forbes. Retrieved 11 November 2012 Several of Milne's children's poems were set to music by the composer Harold Fraser-Simson. His poems have been parodied many times, including with the books When We Were Rather Older and Now We Are Sixty. Rights The rights to the Pooh books were left to four beneficiaries: his family, the Royal Literary Fund, Westminster School and the Garrick Club. After Milne's death in 1956, his widow sold her rights to the Pooh characters to the Walt Disney Company, which has made many Pooh cartoon movies, a Disney Channel television show, as well as Pooh-related merchandise. In 2001, the other beneficiaries sold their interest in the estate to the Disney Corporation for $350m. Previously Disney had been paying twice-yearly royalties to these beneficiaries. The estate of E.H. Shepard also received a sum in the deal. The copyright on Pooh expires in 2026. Publications Poetry * For the Luncheon Interval: Cricket, and other verses (poems from Punch). London: Methuen, 1925. * Behind the Lines: A book of poems. London: Methuen, 1940; New York: Dutton, 1940; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1940. * The Norman Church. London: Methuen, 1948. Plays *''First Plays. London: Chatto & Windus, 1919; New York: Knopf, 1920. *''Mr. Pim Passes By: A comedy in three acts. London & New York: Samuel French, 1921. *''Second Plays'' London: Chatto & Windus, 1921; New York: Knopf, 1922. Novels * Lovers in London. London: Alston Rivers, 1905. * Mr. Pim (novelisation of his play Mr. Pim Passes By). London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1921; New York: Doran, 1922. * The Red House Mystery. London: Methuen, 1922; New York: Dutton, 1922. * Two People. London: Methuen, 1931; New York: Dutton, 1931. * Four Days' Wonder. London: Methuen, 1933; New York: Dutton, 1933. * Chloe Marr. London: Methuen, 1946; New York: Dutton, 1946. Short fiction * The Holiday Round. London: Methuen, 1912. * Once A Week. London: Methuen, 1914. * Happy Days. New York: Doran, 1915. *''The Sunny Side: Short stories and poems for proper grown-ups. London: Methuen, 1921; New York: Dutton, 1922. *''Those Were the Days: The day's play, The holiday round, Once a week, The sunny side. London: Methuen, 1929; New York: Dutton, 1929. * Birthday Party, and other stories. New York: Dutton, 1948; London: Methuen, 1949. * A Table Near the Band, and other stories. London: Methuen, 1950; New York: Dutton, 1950. Non-fiction *''Not that It Matters'' (essays). London: Methuen, 1919; New York: Dutton, 1920. *''If I May'' (essays). London: Methuen, 1920; New York: Dutton, 1921. ** By Way of Introduction (essays & reviews). London: Methuen, 1929; New York: Dutton, 1929. * When I was Very Young. London: Methuen / New York: Fountain Press, 1930. * Peace With Honour: An enquiry into the war convention. London: Methuen, 1934; New York: Dutton, 1934. * It's Too Late Now: The Autobiography of a Writer. London: Methuen, 1939. **published in U.S. as Autobiography. New York: Dutton, 1939. * War With Honour. London: Macmillan, 1940. * War Aims Unlimited. London: Methuen, 1941. * Year In, Year Out (illustrated by E. H. Shepard). London: Methuen, 1952; New York: Dutton, 1952. Juvenile Verse *''When We Were Very Young'' (illustrated by E.H. Shepard). London: Methuen, 1924; New York: Dutton, 1924. * Now We Are Six (illustrated by E.H. Shepard). London: Methuen, 1927; New York: Dutton, 1927; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1927. *''The World of Christopher Robin: The complete 'When We Were Very Young' and 'Now We Are Six' '' (illustrated by E.H. Shepherd). New York: Dutton, 1958. Stories * The Day's Play. London: Methuen, 1910. *''Once on a Time'' (illustrated by Charles Robinson). London: Hodder & Stoughton, 1917; New York & London: Putnam, 1922. * A Gallery of Children (illustrated by Henriette Willebeek le Mair). London: Stanley Paul, 1925; Philadelphia: D. McKay, 1925. * Winnie-the-Pooh]] (illustrated by Ernest H. Shepard). London: Methuen, 1926; New York: Dutton, 1926. * The House at Pooh Corner (illustrated by E.H. Shepard). London: Methuen, 1928; New York: Dutton, 1928; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1928. *''The Magic Hill, and other stories'' (illustrated by Helen Sewell). New York: Grosset & Dunlap, 1937. *''The World of Pooh: The complete Winnie-the Pooh and House at Pooh Corner'' (illustrated by E.H. Shepard). New York: Dutton, 1957; Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1957; London: Methuen, 1958. *''The Complete Tales of Winnie-the-Pooh''. New York: Dutton, 1994. * Short Stories Collected editions *''The Pocket Milne''. New York: Dutton, 1941. Except where noted, bibliographical information courtesy WorldCat.Search results = au:Alan Alexander Milne, WorldCat, OCLC Online Computer Library Center Inc. Web, Dec. 17, 2014. Plays Stage plays Milne wrote over 30 plays, including: * "Wurzel-Flummery: A comedy in one act" (1917) * "Belinda: An April Folly in three acts" (1918) * "The Boy Comes Home: A comedy in one act" (1918) * "Make-Believe" (1918) (children's play) * "The Camberley Triangle: A comedy in one act" (1919) * "Mr. Pim Passes By: A comedy in three acts" (1919) * "The Red Feathers: An operetta in one act" (1920) * "The Romantic Age: A comedy in three acts" (1920) * "The Stepmother: A play in one act" (1920) * The Truth about Blayds (1920) * The Dover Road (1921) * The Great Broxopp (1921) * "The Lucky One: A play in three acts" (1922) * The Artist: A Duologue (1923) * Give Me Yesterday (1923) (a.k.a. Success in the UK) * Ariadne (1924) * The Man in the Bowler Hat: A Terribly Exciting Affair (1924) * To Have the Honour (1924) * Portrait of a Gentleman in Slippers (1926) * Success (1926) * Miss Marlow at Play (1927) * The Fourth Wall or The Perfect Alibi (1928) * The Ivory Door (1929) * Toad of Toad Hall (1929) (adaptation of The Wind in the Willows) * Michael and Mary (1930) * Other People's Lives (1933) (a.k.a. They Don't Mean Any Harm) * Miss Elizabeth Bennet (1936) [based on Pride and Prejudice] * Sarah Simple (1937) * Gentleman Unknown (1938) * The General Takes Off His Helmet (1939) in The Queen's Book of the Red Cross * The Ugly Duckling (1941) * Before the Flood (1951) Screenplays Milne wrote 4 stories filmed in 1920 for Minerva Films: * The Bump (starring Aubrey Smith) * Twice Two * Five Pound Reward * Bookworms Films Michael and Mary was adapted to cinema in 1931. The 1963 film The King's Breakfast was based on Milne's poem of the same name. See also * List of British poets * List of English-language playwrights References External links ;Poems *"Spring Morning" * A.A. Milne 1882-1956 at the Poetry Foundation *Poetry by A.A. Milne at AllPoetry. *Alan Alexander Milne at PoemHunter (52 poems). ;Prose * Essays by Milne at Quotidiana.org * [http://books.guardian.co.uk/extracts/story/0,,1667391,00.html Milne extract in the Guardian] ;Books * * ;About * A.A. Milne at the Encyclopædia Britannica * A.A. Milne's profile at Just-Pooh.com *Alan Alexander Milne biography at Pooh Corner. *A.A. Milne - The Author at WinniethePooh.co.uk. * A.A. Milne at NNDB. * Portraits of A.A. Milne in the National Portrait Gallery. Category:1882 births Category:1956 deaths Category:People from Hampstead Category:People from Kilburn, London Category:20th-century British children's literature Category:Alumni of Trinity College, Cambridge Category:British Army personnel of World War I Category:Royal Warwickshire Fusiliers officers Category:English children's writers Category:English novelists Category:Members of the Detection Club Category:People educated at Westminster School, London Category:English poets Category:Winnie-the-Pooh Category:Deaths from stroke Category:English people of Scottish descent Category:Writers from London Category:20th-century poets Category:English-language poets Category:English dramatists and playwrights Category:Poets Category:Children's poets